Thursday, February 17, 2011

Natural Beauty versus Man Made

Photograph taken on February 13, 2011 of Mount Timpanogos

I took this photo after the sun had already set. Everything at lower elevations was beginning to get dark with the exception of the snowpeaks of Mount Timpanogos. This mountain is the second highest mountain in the Wasatch Range. It is 11,749 feet above sea level. The word Timpanogos comes from the Timpanogots Ute tribe who lived in the surrounding valleys from AD 1400. The name translates as rock (tumpi-), and water mouth or canyon (panogos). Viewed from the southwest, Mount Timpanogos resembles the profile of a sleeping woman. Various legends are told of an Indian maiden who died of grief after her lover was killed.

I compare this natural beauty to the manmade "beauty" all around us. Man does his best to create beauty, much of what we see today is artificial. Driving into work today I saw billboard after billboard of advertisement on how to surgically reduce body fat, eliminate wrinkles, augment areas of the body, inject colored dye in the skin... All artificial, and man-made.

We would do well to enjoy the true natural beauty that surrounds us. God truly is the master of All things that are naturally beautiful.